Word Study
contractility
CIDE DICTIONARY
contractility, n.
- The quality or property by which bodies shrink or contract. [1913 Webster]
- The power possessed by the fibers of living muscle of contracting or shortening. [1913 Webster]" When subject to the will, as in the muscles of locomotion, such power is called voluntary contractility; when not controlled by the will, as in the muscles of the heart, it is involuntary contractility." [1913 Webster]
ROGET THESAURUS
contractility
Contraction
N contraction, reduction, diminution, decrease of size, defalcation, decrement, lessening, shrinking, compaction, tabes, collapse, emaciation, attenuation, tabefaction, consumption, marasmus, atrophy, systole, neck, hourglass, condensation, compression, compactness, compendium, squeezing, strangulation, corrugation, astringency, astringents, sclerotics, contractility, compressibility, coarctation, inferiority in size, contracting, astringent, shrunk, contracted, strangulated, tabid, wizened, stunted, waning, neap, compact, unexpanded &c (expand), contractile, compressible, smaller &c (small).For further exploring for "contractility" in Webster Dictionary Online
